Tyler Florence Fridays: Let them eat bread!


Do you regularly follow Tyler Florence Fridays? If not, then you missed the announcement recently that Tyler himself has been keeping his eye out on us!

Not only that, one entry per week will be chosen to be featured on Tyler's own website!

I had no chance at all last week, especially not against Karen's beautiful cheesecake - my potatoes, while tasty, were not even remotely photogenic.

How about this week's choice, however? Doesn't my banana bread look so much better than my potatoes did? You can't even compare them for taste, though: apples to oranges, both Tyler, both tasty, but so very different from each other.

The recipe for this calls for pecans, which makes sense when you read the name: Banana Bread with Pecans, but I don't like nuts in my banana bread, and the kids can't have anything nut at all at school, so I simply removed them.

Oh, and I doubled the recipe to make two loaves instead of one. Which you will want to do after trying this.

Let me tell you, all banana breads are not made equal. This one, with the unusual step of creaming half the banana with the sugar to make a banana cream, makes for a wonderful bread. Not greasy, with extra banana flavor but without huge chunks of banana dominating the bread. So good.

I've actually made this twice since I took this picture, doubling the batch both times. It is very easy to have 8 over ripe bananas (and if you are frugal kind of person, overripe bananas are very cheap in the "sell quickly" section of the produce department.)

Don't forget to head over to Tyler Florence Fridays for the round up!

Banana Bread (without Pecans)
by Tyler Florence, as found on Food Network

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 overripe bananas
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Optional: 1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting (I skipped this - unless I had company coming and was trying to pretty things up, it really isn't necessary.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

Mash 2 of the bananas with a fork in a small bowl so they still have a bit of texture. With an electric mixer fitted with a wire whisk, whip the remaining bananas and sugar together for a good 3 minutes; you want a light and fluffy banana cream. Add the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla; beat well and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated; no need to overly blend. Fold in the mashed bananas with a rubber spatula (and nuts, if using). Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Give the pan a good rap on the counter to get any air bubbles out.

Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Don't get nervous if the banana bread develops a crack down the center of the loaf; that's no mistake, it's typical. Rotate the pan periodically to ensure even browning.

Cool the bread in the pan for 10 minutes or so, and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

Tyler's instructions also add in: Toast the slices of banana bread, dust with confectioners' sugar, and serve. But again, unless I was trying to impress someone, I'd skip this step. The bread speaks for itself.




14 comments:

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

Creaming half the banana with the sugar ... that sounds like a very interesting technique with possibilities. Yes your banana bread looks excellent ... better than potatoes, potatoes don't have to look beautiful, they just are beautiful.

Kim said...

I think your potatoes were very photogenic : ) The banana bread is pretty too. I like my banana bread w/out nuts too. So exciting to see who wins this week. Good luck.

Sara said...

how exciting that Tyler is watching you guys! your banana bread looks wonderful, i wish i could have a piece.

Heather S-G said...

Sounds like a good one...love the step of creaming the banana w/ the sugar...different!

Megan said...

mmm - I could sure use a piece of that right about now.

I haven't made banana bread in years - and I have a great recipe that doesn't use eggs or butter - I'll have to dig it up and send it to you to try.

pam said...

All banana breads are not created equal! Right you are! This looks wonderful.

NKP said...

I do like that step of creaming the banana in.. intriguing! Looks wonderful, I will have to make this soon.

Arlene Delloro said...

Your banana bread is very photogenic. I like the idea of creaming in some of the bananas. I love nuts in everything, but SO prefers his cake "straight up." Great choice for TFF.

Kristin said...

I have never tried creaming the bananna, that sounds like a great idea. Leave it to Tyler to figure that out! Happy TFF!

Anonymous said...

Your presentation is indeed lovely! I'm anxious to give this a try! You make it sound so yummy...and as someone else said...a GOOD recipe is a treasure! I'm hoping to treasure this one! Thanks for sharing!!

Donna-FFW said...

I think this banana bread sounds delicious and it looks amazing!

karen said...

aww, thanks for the sweet comment. and both your potatoes and bread are very photogenic. :) i'm ready for this banana bread. and you're right, all banana breads are NOT equal and i'm very picky about how i like mine. this sounds like it could be a winner.

Joanne said...

The step of creaming the bananas sounds really unique, I've definitely never seen another banana bread recipe do that. But that is what makes Tyler so special I guess ;).

Anonymous said...

I love banana bread, yours looks like it turned out great! I've never heard of this Tyler Flor. Fridays...I'll have to check into it. Thanks!